Happy Three Months, Sarge!

Look at how much you've grown, sweet baby! Happy 3 months today!  Your cheeks are so full they jiggle on dirt roads, and you've been sporting that second chin for a while. 

You've already pushed your way out of those teenie-tiny newborn outfits, and the newborn diapers were history weeks ago. You've given me smiles over and over now, and that look you give me when I'm with you...that look! It's a look only of God's making. Your eyes light up, and your heart beats faster. And then my heart beats faster, and I wish I could just freeze that moment and go back to it years from now when I call your name and you look at me, but you're distracted by a million other things.

 "What's wrong. Haven't you ever seen such handsome chins before?"

I know it's been an ordeal finding you a nickname. Who knew it would be such a tug-of-war? Your older brothers affectionately named you "Chuckle Pig," and after some time, that name was quite endearing (and they still call you that). But, I couldn't imagine, nor could your Daddy, calling you "Chuckle Pig" when you are 5. So, Daddy, who has the privilege of bestowing nicknames anyway, chose "Sarge."  He says you look like you're ready to take command. I agree.

I think that no other time in our lives flies by so quickly as when we're watching a baby grow. I'm not a new Mama who thinks these baby days might last forever. I know very well that in the blink of an eye, you'll be a man. Your two older brothers remind me of this truth every day, and when I see those older Moms in the store, the ones with children grown up long ago, I still see that longing look in their eyes, the longing to go back and enjoy the little years again, even for just a moment. Seeing a baby fresh from God when all your babies aren't babies anymore does that to you.

And while I'm delighting in God's goodness in growing you and your siblings, I'm not eager to shoo my babies out of the nest.  I've never said, "I can't wait until ____ leaves.  I can't wait to be DONE." (Because is a parent really ever DONE?)   Instead, I look at boys becoming men and little ladies on their way to womanhood, and I have bits of regret, wishing I would have been a better reflection of Christ. I ponder the grace that has brought me thus far, and it brings me to tears and to my knees. 

But, I'm enjoying what your siblings are becoming, their lives evidences of God's grace. It is the greatest show on earth to see God at work in each one of us, making us all more like Jesus, keeping us in His tender care. Seasons are good, and right now, you're in the baby season, so I'm trying to enjoy it with every fiber of my being while savoring the toddler season, the preschooler season, the young adult season, and everything else in between. I'm praying God will etch these memories deep in my heart so time won't steal them away.

And yes.  I really am a compulsive picture taker, and perhaps the click of the camera is getting a bit old to you.  Maybe it's my way of holding on when I know I really can't hold on, but perhaps it's more my knowing that, as much as I want to remember, I'll forget just what you looked like at these different stages. 

But these pictures I take are just an earthly thing, prone to corruption, while my mothering of you leaves an impression for eternity. I pray that in the way I love you, in the way I teach you, you'll see Jesus, for your mother has such feet of clay and will disappoint you and sin against you and fail you. But He, your Savior, never will. Oh, that He would choose such a vessel to be your mother, clothing me in the righteousness of Christ and refining me ever so patiently.

You're just 3 months, but it seems like you've been with us forever. May God continue to give us the grace to love you well, reminding you every moment that you belong to Him. Because even though we love you so very, very deeply, Jesus, yes precious Jesus, loves you even more.  And I pray that you can never, ever recall a day in your life when you didn't love Him, too.


Love, 
Mommy

Christ, The Deep Sea of JOY

"The Lord Jesus is a deep sea of joy: my soul shall dive therein, 

shall be swallowed up in the delights of His society."

~C. H. Spurgeon

 "Well may my mouth be filled with joyous laughter, because of the singular surprising grace which I have received of the Lord, for I have found Jesus, the promised seed, and He is mine forever."

~C. H. Spurgeon

Visions of a Different Christmas Dancing in My Head

I'd love to show you our Advent calendar for this year or a stack of Christmas books or a list of Christmas crafts to do, to tell you I have all of my Christmas shopping done and every decoration put up.

I'd love to tell you about the new recipes I'm going to try and the amazing feast I have planned for Christmas Day, or how I've organized our Advent readings and purchased new Christmas music.

But what I'd love to do just isn't happening.

It's December 1st, and we're recovering from sickness while trying to keep our school schedule going. I'm looking at piles that need to be purged, clutter that needs to be bagged up and carted away, an inflexible budget, and a sadness that's become my second skin.

This is a hard place to be when you love to celebrate as much as I do, when you're a lover of traditions and making this glorious time of year special in the most memorable of ways. Of course, the pressure doesn't just come from within. Every where I turn are wonderful suggestions for celebrating Christmas. And my heart is skillful at making these suggestions idols, of believing that if I'm not creating an endless string of special moments, my children won't grasp the beauty and awe of this season, won't grasp the wonder of His coming to save His people.

So, I'm fighting. Fighting to find contentment in what I can do, but even more so, in who He is and who I am in Him. Fighting to rejoice in what others CAN do. Fighting to love my Savior more than I love my plans and my traditions. Fighting to remember that small things done are better than big things planned.

These are notes to myself and any other Mom who finds herself too sick or too broke or too sad or simply overwhelmed to be able to do all she had hoped to this Christmas.

1) What they'll remember: Our joy in doing what we can and resting in His providence instead of murmuring or nursing guilt will leave a more powerful impression on our children than the fanciest Advent activities or the most expensive gifts.

2) Real Simple: Though keeping it simple is a mantra all over the internet, we often make keeping it simple quite complicated and expensive and glamorous. You don't have to bake a gourmet cookie recipe with 35 different ingredients. Make your favorite sugar cookie and decorate away. You don't have to create a snow village from paper cutouts that take 12 hours of preparation. Print out some coloring pages and color with your children.

3) Assault yourself with Truth. Post Scripture everywhere and words of encouragement to keep you focused.

4) Priorities. Make the reading and studying of His Word and time in prayer your priority and a priority for your family. What a great gift it is to live out the truth that these are eternal investments of our time, means of grace that keep us grounded and growing.

5) We're not Scrooges. Rejoice with others in their season of fatness. Don't let the hedges that surround you sour your view of the abundance in others' lives. Be happy for your friend who has all of her gifts purchased and who made the gingerbread house from scratch. Our limitations don't make that cute Pinterest project evil or gift-giving sinful, and we shouldn't malign traditions and celebrations to make ourselves feel better about what we can't do.

6) A Season Within the Season. Remember that what we can do comes in seasons. If next year finds you healthy, super-organized, able to lavish most abundantly gifts on your children, bake fancy desserts, and go special places, then thanks be to God! Delight in it! It is a wonderful gift! And remember to ask Him to keep you as much in your season of prosperity as you've begged Him to do in your season of leanness.

With love,
Trisha


**Better small things done than big things planned.
~Peter Marshall

There Will Come a Day When You'll Need This--Our Favorite Brownie Recipe

Because there will be at least one day in your life, regardless of your stage of sanctification, when you'll find you need the following:

~2 minutes to yourself
~a spatula
~leftover brownie batter
~a room with a door with a lock

And you'll want getting to that place to be an easy journey...no chopping chocolate or mixing together complicated ingredients or even running to the store for a boxed mix.

And for all of the other days when you just want homemade brownies, no desperation involved, this recipe is perfect. Just take it out when the time is up. No toothpicks or 2 or 4 or 6 more minutes needed. Hot, fudgy brownies. Ice cream optional.

2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1-1/2 c. flour
10 T. unsweetened baking cocoa
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or nuts,optional, to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, oil, and eggs. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until incorporated. Stir in the vanilla. Pour into your prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle with optional chocolate chips and/or nuts. Bake for 20 minutes. Then turn the heat off, leaving the pan in the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove pan to a rack to cool completely.

***original recipe found here

You're welcome.

With love,

Trisha

Psalm 119:135

Blessed Are the Meek

These passages are taken from Spurgeon's most excellent sermon on the third beatitude, found here.  Highly, highly recommended!

 *******

"The meek in spirit are like a photographer’s sensitive plates—as the Word of God passes before them, they desire to have its image imprinted upon their hearts. Their hearts are the fleshy tablets on which the mind of God is recorded. God is the Writer and they become living Epistles, written not with ink, but with the finger of the living God! Thus are they meek towards God."

"When a man is converted, the first operation of the Grace of God within his soul is to give him true poverty of spirit, so the first Beatitude is, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The Lord first makes us know our emptiness and so humbles us. Then next He makes us mourn over the deficiencies that are so manifest in us. Then comes the second Beatitude, “Blessed are they that mourn.” First, then, is a true knowledge of ourselves and then a sacred grief arising out of that knowledge. Now, no man ever becomes truly meek, in the Christian sense of that word, until he first knows himself and then begins to mourn and lament that he is so far short of what he ought to be. Self-righteousness is never meek." 

"It is true that it has a relationship to God, but a man’s meekness is especially towards his fellow men. He is not simply meek within himself—his meekness is manifest in his dealings with others. You would not speak of a hermit who never saw a fellow creature as being meek. The only way in which you could prove whether he was meek would be to put him with those who would try his temper." 

"The meek-spirited man may be naturally very hot and fiery, but he has had Grace given to him to keep his temper in subjection. He does not say, “That is my constitution and I cannot help it,” as so many do. God will never excuse us because of our constitution—His Grace is given to us to cure our evil constitutions and to kill our corruptions!"

"If you take your brother by the throat because he owes you a hundred pence, can you think that God will forgive you the thousand talents which you owe Him? So the meek-spirited man forgives those who wrong him—he reckons that injuries are permitted to be done to him as trials of his Grace, to see whether he can forgive them—and he does so, and does so right heartily."

"The meek-spirited man is not ambitious. He is satisfied with what God provides for him. He does not say that his soul loathes the daily manna. And the water from the Rock never loses its sweetness to his taste. His motto, is, “God’s Providence is my inheritance.” 

"If we are meek, we shall the more readily see the excellences of other people."

"With a gentle temper and a quiet spirit, and Grace to keep you so, you will be inheriting the earth under any circumstances. If trouble should come, you will bow to it as the willow bows to the wind and so escapes the injury that falls upon sturdier trees. If there should come little vexations, you will not allow yourself to be vexed by them, but will say, “With a little patience, they will all pass away.”

"But this must be the work of Grace. We must be born-again, or else our proud spirits will never be meek."

"Put those five qualities together and you have the truly meek man—humble, gentle, patient, forgiving and contented—the very opposite of the man who is proud, harsh, angry, revengeful and ambitious. It is only the Grace of God, as it works in us by the Holy Spirit, that can make us thus meek."

"There are some people who are very gentle and meek as long as nobody tries them. We are, all of us, remarkably good-tempered while we have our own way. But the true meekness which is a work of Grace will stand the fire of persecution and will endure the test of enmity, cruelty and wrong—even as the meekness of Christ did upon the Cross of Calvary.

"The meek-spirited man is glad to know that other people are happy—and their happiness is his happiness! He will have a great number of heavens, for everybody else’s Heaven will be a Heaven to him! It will be a Heaven to him to know that so many other people are in Heaven, and for each one whom he sees there, he will praise the Lord. Meekness gives us the enjoyment of what is other people’s, yet they have none the less because of our enjoyment of it!"

When You Must Believe to See

Sometimes we are left in the dark. Whether you are, or not, I know that I have been where I could not see sun, or moon, or stars, or even get so much as a look from my Master to cheer my sad heart, or a word from His mouth to make my spirit glad. At such times we must remember that ancient message, “Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.” If you cannot see, you must believe to see. And if your heart feels like a stone, still believe that Christ is your life. And if, instead of holy meditations, your soul is racked with blasphemous temptations and evil thoughts, still hold on to Jesus, sink or swim! If, instead of clear evidences of salvation, you are half afraid that the Lord has forsaken you, and given you up—and you fall into an unbelieving frame of mind—go again to the Fountain filled with blood, that this sin, like all others, may be washed away! Trust Christ all the more “when the enemy shall come in like a flood,” for then, “the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Those must be strange Christians who never have any conflict raging within their souls. If that is true Christian experience, I wish I could get it—to be always at peace and at rest and never again have to wrestle with sins, doubts and fears! But, Beloved, if we cannot attain to that position—and I believe that the most of us cannot—let us still walk by faith, for, so we shall walk triumphantly even under the discouragements of our inward spiritual conflicts!

~C. H. Spurgeon

'Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee

'Tis not that I did choose thee,
For, Lord, that could not be;
This heart would still refuse thee,
Hadst thou not chosen me.
Thou from the sin that stained me
Hast cleansed and set me free;
Of old thou hast ordained me,
That I should live to thee.

'Twas sovereign mercy called me
And taught my op'ning mind;
The world had else enthralled me,
To heavenly glories blind.
My heart owns none before thee,
For thy rich grace I thirst;
This knowing, if I love thee,
Thou must have loved me first.

~Josiah Conder, 1843

Thanksgiving 2012

It doesn't matter how much time we spend giving thanks, it never feels like it's enough. And truly, it isn't. 

Thanks be to God for the many joys of yesterday.

The cooking ahead that made for a much more enjoyable and stress free day.

The help in the kitchen from my Mountain Man and all of our children.

The laughter around the table.

The many times of correction, the Holy Spirit's work in us, making us more like 

Christ.

A conversation with my sister whose husband is battling stage 4 colon cancer--to hear of God's provision, to hear her clinging to His truths. 

The joyful recounting of God's mercies throughout the year. How many there have been!!

Grandma's visiting and feasting with us.

The reading of His Word.

The abundance of delicious food and sweet fellowship.

The games and books and constant flow of creativity.

The beauty and coziness that abounds in tight spaces.

The wonder of photography.

The work of our hands that is because He is and gives us so graciously all things.

Waves of buttery potatoes, tender turkey, flaky rolls, sweet and crisp corn, roasted asparagus, southern-style sweet tea, Chariot wine, cranberry sauce, berry pie, and chocolate.

Grace to obey and walk in His ways when our flesh resists at every turn. 

Repentance. Forgiveness. 

We are the redeemed!